


How Draco Malfoy ended up sleeping in the same bed as his former arch enemy

by becausebecca



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Comfort, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Getting Together, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Nightmares, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 19:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11561682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becausebecca/pseuds/becausebecca
Summary: Nightmares were nothing new, neither for Harry nor for Draco. What was new was the comfort they could find in each other.





	How Draco Malfoy ended up sleeping in the same bed as his former arch enemy

It was hard to return to school after the war. Everyone - whether teacher or student - knew that. Especially for the seventh- and eighth-years it was hard . They had been fighting a war in this very castle a few months ago and even though the castle had been rebuilt again, almost everyone that had been present at the battle of Hogwarts knew about the cracks in the heavy stonebuilt walls that hadn't been there before . The eighth-years had got their own common room and dormitories because there wasn't enough space in the house rooms with the new first-years. Actually, they were pretty happy about it. Studying was much easier when there weren't a bunch of kids around that set dung-bombs or firecrackers off around you all the time and even though every eighth-year had the right to return to their old house common room to visit that rarely happened. Instead, they spent time together in their own common room, studying in the area in the far back of the room that was charmed to be quiet when you needed it, playing chess while eating sweets out of the self-refilling bowl of candy next to the huge windows, or lying on the bean bags and sofas next to the fire place talking quietly about everything that was on their minds. 

The only person that wasn't involved in this activities was Draco Malfoy. Having been a Death Eater, even if forced, during the war, he had become a loner and Draco was okay with it. Yes, of course he was jealous when he heard his classmates laughing loudly at a joke Ron Weasly just made or when he saw the groups of friends leave for a trip to Hogsmeade during the weekends but it wasn't really bothering him. Well, at least not during the days. The nights were different. Every evening he would go to bed terrified of the dreams he might have in the night. And it hadn't got better in the meantime between the battle and now at all. In fact, it had got worse, worse to the point that Draco woke up his whole dorm (which contained next to him Terry Boot, Ernest MacMillian, Michael Corner and Seamus Finnigan) with crying or screaming. None of the other boys made a move to comfort Draco. Not that he had expected it. But it would have been nice. At some point, Draco had started to go down into the common room after a nightmare to calm himself down. Also to cry a little without being heard or watched but he wasn't going to admit that to himself. Silencing charms were rubbish when you wanted to conceal that you were crying because to hold up a charm you needed to be focused which wasn't excatly easy when you could barely hold yourself together. 

Tonight was a particularly bad one. Draco didn't even remember what exactly he had dreamt, but he knew that he woke up screaming again and that at least Terry who was sleeping in the bed next to him was awake now. Great. After feeling for his wand on the bedside table and finding it, Draco mumbled "Lumos" and then made his way down into the common room once again, intending to lie down on one of the sofas and stare into the fire while letting the tears fall freely. But when he entered the common room he could see that someone else was here. Someone with messy black hair and round glasses which reflected the flames in the fire place. Draco sighed when he saw the figure turn around and spot him. "Sorry, Harry. Didn't mean to disturb you", he mumbled and turned on his heel to go back to bed. "You have just the same right to be here as I have", Harry replied calmly. Draco turned back again, surprise visible on his face. He didn't expect Harry to be so nice to him. Well, actually he didn't expect anyone to be nice to him as he was a failure by all means. But that was an entirely different story. "Nightmares?", Harry asked. Draco nodded. "Yeah. I know I'm in no position to complain since it's basically my own fault, but it sucks." "I know. I get them, too", Harry said. Then he made a more or less inviting gesture towards the sofa next to him. "You wanna talk about it?" Draco shrugged. Talking sounded nice, actually, but he didn't want to ask for too much. Still, he went over to Harry and sat down next him, smiling a weak and sheepish smile. Harry smiled back. He leant into Draco's direction until his head was resting on Draco's shoulder. "Is this okay?", he asked. Draco nodded. "I'll take that as a no to the talking, then", Harry announced. Then, it went silent between them. But it wasn't the sort of silence that Draco couldn't stand. It wasn't like the heavy silence that always filled the Malfoy Manor and covered everything in a sad and gloomy nothingness. It wasn't the silence he constantly had to deal with as he was almost always alone. It was comfortable, the first comfortable silence Draco had experienced in years. 

Draco and Harry both fell asleep on the sofas down in the common room and when they woke up early in the morning the next day, Harry's hand in Draco's, they rushed hastily back into their dorms, pretending nothing had ever happened. It was a silent agreement between them that nobody needed to know about whatever that was the night before. The only difference to before was that Harry now smiled at Draco when they were passing each other in the hallways. Draco smiled back, of course. He wasn't an asshole. At least not anymore. Since then they had spent a lot of nights together in the common room, naturally. They both had nightmares almost every night and it was odd enough that it had taken so long for them to meet during the nights in the common room as both used it as a place to cry in peace. One time, Draco went down to the kitchens and got them two steaming mugs of tea. Another time, Harry got a copy of a muggle book from his dormitory and they sat next to each other, both reading quietly. But most times they just held each other's hand to have something to hold onto, neither of them daring to say a word and disturb the silence.

But unlike Harry's nightmares, Draco's nightmares didn't seem to disappear or at least happened less frequent as time went on and after about two months of calming each other almost every night, Draco had to spent more and more nights alone again. And for the first time it actually bothered him. It bothered him that he was alone because now he knew how much a somewhat friend can help. (Who would have known that he, Draco Malfoy, would consider Potter a friend at some point.) He missed the times when he had sombody else that seemed to understand what he was going through. It wasn't comparable, of course, as Harry was popular and had people who liked him around him all the time and Draco was completely alone, but still.

It had been two weeks since the last time Harry had comforted him when Draco woke up screaming for the first time in three months. He was shaking and cold sweat was running down his forehead and cheeks, mixed with hot tears that he was unable to hold back. A sob went through him as Draco searched for his wand. He found it and let the tip ignite to go down to the common room once again. Crashing down on one of the sofas, he didn't even care anymore if somebody heard him and let the sobs shaking his body echo from the cold stone walls. What if someone found him? It didn't matter anyway as nobody would care. But that wasn't true. Somebody cared. That somebody was woken up in the middle of the night by screaming that was coming from the dorm opposite their own. Knowing exactly who had screamed and why, they got up slowly after they heard Draco leaving his dorm and walked past his dorm mates who were all still sleeping peacefully. Downstairs, they rushed over to Draco and pulled the shaking boy into a sitting position, wrapping their arms around him. Draco knew that it was Harry who had come to comfort him (who else would?) and buried his face at Harry's chest. His tears were wetting Harry's tshirt and he knew it but there was nothing he could do about it. Even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to hold back his tears anymore.

"Hey, hey", Harry murmured, soothingly rocking their bodies back and forth, "It was just a nightmare. It's over now, I promise." Draco clutched Harry's tshirt in his fist and whispered "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" over and over again. Not knowing what to respond, Harry held Draco in his arms and let him cry. He knew that it helped to get your emotions out and considering that Draco almost never showed any weaknesses, not even in front of his friends (Harry knew that from Pansy who was now studying with Hermione and him regularly), he had to have a lot to get out of his head. After a while, Harry started to run his hand up and down Draco's back, hoping at would help him calm down and give him at least a little comfort. He wasn't sure whether Draco noticed as he didn't show any reaction. He just cried and cried not stopping until there were no tears left to cry and his head hurt like hell. "Are you feeling a bit better now?", Harry asked, loosening his grip around Draco a little. "Suppose so", Draco answered, "I'm sorry I woke you." "It's fine. As long as I could help." "You did help." Draco looked up at Harry and attempted to smile, even though he knew that it probably looked more like a weird grimace than anything else. Receiving a smile back, he let his head fall back into his previous place at Harry's chest. For a milisecond he thought that Harry would push him away, but the other boy just pulled him closer. "Harry?", Draco asked. Harry hummed to show that he was listening. "Why are so nice to me?". "Cause I know how much it sucks to have nightmares", Harry responded, "and you are actually not that much of a prat as I always thought." "Was that the tiniest bit of a compliment?", Draco teased, looking up (without moving his head, the position was far too comfortable to do that) to see Harry's reaction. A faint blush covereed Harry's cheeks. "Maybe." "Maybe. Of course you couldn't give an actually helpful answer, Potter." "Oh, back to surnames, I see. Are you trying to intimidate me, Malfoy?", Harry mocked. "You wish, Potter." 

Harry smiled down at the boy in his arms. If somebody told him a year before that at some point he would be sitting in a common room that wasn't the Gryffindors', his arms wrapped tightly around Draco, around Malfoy for Merlin's sake, he would've told them that they needed to get their head checked. But here he was. "Do you want to go back to bed?", he asked suddenly when he noticed that Draco's head got heavier against his chest, the other boy obviously too tired to hold it up much longer. Draco shook his head "I don't wanna be alone", he answered. "I could come with you." Harry himself was surprised by his sudden suggestion but he didn't regret it. He didn't mind sleeping with Draco in the same bed when it kept the nightmares away as he knew that nightmares were a terrible thing. "You would? You're not joking, right? Cause I don't know I could stand that right now." Draco's voice was quiet and Harry thought he heard the slightest bit of quivering in it. "Of course I'm not joking. C'mon, we'll get your duvet and pillow and then we'll go sleep in my bed." Draco felt warmth spreading through his body. Yes, it seemed a bit weird considering they had been more or less enemies for most of their lives but he didn't care. He decided that it would be fine. "Okay." 

Harry got up and pulled the pale boy to his feet. As quiet as possible they made their way back upstairs to the dormitories and got Draco's stuff out of his. Terry Boot almost woke up when Harry stepped on the creaking plank at the entrance and when they entered Harry's dormitory Ron was talking in his sleep, making them shriek at the thought that they woke him up, but otherwise they made it into Harry's bed without any incidents. Now they were laying in the bed that was almost a bit too small for the two of them, facing each other. Actually, they were staring at each other in the dim light. The ease that had been so natural downstairs in the common room, was gone. Instead, they both didn't know what to say. so they just stared. Draco couldn't help but notice how beautiful Harry was. He had never thought about it until now, but he couldn't deny it. "You're staring", Harry whispered after a minute of awkward silence. "You are, too." "I know. This doesn't happen every day, you know. Sleeping in one bed with your former arch enemy." "Yeah", Draco agreed. An idea popped into his head "Would you...", he started, then deciding to phrase it different "Would it be okay if... If I came a bit closer? It's just... It was comfortable, I mean, when we were..." "Cuddling?", Harry suggested. 

Draco nodded, biting his lip. He wasn't used to these things and something about Harry made him feel nervous, insecure. Harry lifted his blanket and patted the space next to him. "Come here." Draco put his own blanket away and moved to lie next to Harry, his head resting in th crook of Harry's neck. "Comfortable enough?", Harry asked. "Yeah, thank you." Harry smiled. And then he did something he would have never expected from himself. Not that he had a problem with Draco being a boy. He just never thought he would lean in and kiss Draco Malfoy on the top of the head. Little did he know that in less than two weeks sharing kisses would be a totally normal thing for him and Draco.


End file.
